Into Word and Stone: Retrieving the Black Death’s Creative Legacy in France and Spain
Subject Area
Special Topics
Abstract
In this paper we will show how the different waves of plague both in Brittany, France, and the Iberian Peninsula were exhaustively recorded into words, paintings and monuments by those who experienced pestilence first-hand. Old Breton songs and legends, as well as murals, calvaries and churches throughout the region, have immortalized the disease. They have transformed what was once impalpable and therefore indescribable into tangible objects of study.
Brief Bio Note
Randal Garza, Professor of Spanish; B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Michigan State University. Dr. Garza's teaching fields are Spanish and Portuguese language, Business Spanish, Computer Assisted Language Learning and Peninsular Spanish literature. His research specialization is in Medieval Spanish literature and he is a scholar of plague studies and its impact on the Iberian Peninsula. Before coming to UT Martin, he designed and implemented a program in Business Spanish for Michigan State University where he also served as Assistant Editor of Celestinesca - a literary journal devoted to the study of Fernando de Rojas' masterpiece, Celestina. He is active in the world of computer technology having served as technical consultant for various hardware and software-related seminars. Scholarly publication: Understanding Plague: The Medical and Imaginative Texts of Medieval Spain. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
Keywords
Plague, France, Spain, Portugal
Location
Room 211
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-27-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
3-27-2015 10:15 AM
Embargo
5-23-2017
Recommended Citation
Garza, Randal P., "Into Word and Stone: Retrieving the Black Death’s Creative Legacy in France and Spain" (2015). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 54.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2015/2015/54
Into Word and Stone: Retrieving the Black Death’s Creative Legacy in France and Spain
Room 211
In this paper we will show how the different waves of plague both in Brittany, France, and the Iberian Peninsula were exhaustively recorded into words, paintings and monuments by those who experienced pestilence first-hand. Old Breton songs and legends, as well as murals, calvaries and churches throughout the region, have immortalized the disease. They have transformed what was once impalpable and therefore indescribable into tangible objects of study.
